Well, I was happy to see this and when I try to log into my account there:

We regret that due to a serious error caused by our webhosting company all past customer account details were deleted from our servers. Previous customers will need to create a new account. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience. An announcement will be made soon regarding updates and past orders.

We are writing to inform you of changes to our website. Unfortunately, last Friday our webhost company deleted from their servers the entire files of several websites, including the Delphi Classics store. This was an error which we had no control over. We have managed to salvage web page information, eBook files and other data, but all customer accounts and order details were lost. The server on which we stored the backups was also affected, losing the details of thousands of orders and accounts.

We have been working hard over the last five days to build a completely new website, with improved performance and features, as well as a more secure location. Sadly, we are simply unable to restore your previous account details and you will need to create a new account to make a new order. When registering a new account, you can re-use the same username and password if you would like.

Well, depending on the number of updates they issue over the next 12 months, they're going to be giving away a lot of free books. Since they claim to have lost all customer purchase records, how can they really verify your past purchase?

Quote:

If we release a new version of Charles Dickens between now and 31st January 2014, you can claim a free update for that eBook with the four-digit Order no. from your previous order email (e.g. Order no. 5019). Please send an email to updates@delphiclassics.com with the following information:

SUBJECT: APPLICATION FOR UPDATE COUPON

MESSAGE: Charles Dickens Kindle eBook. Order no. 5019

This order number will allow us to confirm your previous order and issue you a coupon code for the Dickens eBook, which you can use at once to re-purchase the title for free.

I mean - they either have your purchase records or they don't ...

and, FWIW, not all legitimate order numbers are 4 digit - I saved my confirmation emails, and my very first order number (which contained the Charles Dickens volume cited above) was under 100.

So, IF I'm reading this correctly... Even though we were promised free updates to our purchases as long as they come out, we're now told we will only get these updates through January 2014? So if major corrections or changes are made in a book I've previously purchased from them after the cutoff date, I would have to repurchase the book to get the updates? I'm wrong, right? I hope so..

They've always promoted the fact that they'll add more works to their collected editions as they become available re: copyright, available via their free updates. I guess that is not the case for a single title they've sold any longer.

I really don't think they have any idea how bad this is? I'd be falling over backwards to make things right rather than saying this is the way it is, take it or leave it.

I've bought quite a few books from Delphi, many with the copyright restricted contents (US). Given the low prices of their volumes I tend to wait until there are 5-10 books I want to buy, so I was waiting for a few more books to be added to Series Three before I made my next purchase. Now I'll have to make a decision about whether to continue purchasing from them.

Delphi made a commitment to provide free lifetime updates and are now reneging on that commitment unless we can prove we bought the books (I don't keep receipts, paper or otherwise, once I am satisfied with a product). I contrast that with the very costly and error-prone efforts being made by Barnes & Noble to honor the purchases made on both Fictionwise and eReader.com. I will admit there have been all kinds of problems, but they are at least trying to make good ... and they aren't asking us to provide proof that we bought the books.

I guess I'll have to decide whether or not I still value the service/products they provide at such a low price given that their guarantee for free future updates isn't worth even the paper it isn't written on. I suspect that decision will be made on a case-by-case basis. For certain I will no longer buy volumes that are missing significant works of an author until after those works have been added.